Every year thousands of British homeowners call in the builders - trusting their most valuable asset to a stranger. For a long time, the trusty British builder seemed to have a monopoly on home improvements. But in the past five years, a new breed of builder has reached Britain from Eastern Europe - notably from Poland. This Cutting Edge film follows two teams - one British, one Polish - as they each construct an extension on two suburban houses. How will they measure up?
British builder Terry is the fourth generation of his family to work in the building trade. He firmly believes you get what you pay for: "At the end of the day it's the quality and finished product that tells whether a tradesman's done the job. That's what people are paying for."
A former chocolate salesman in Poland, Jarek (pictured, with his team) decided to become a builder after arriving in the UK. He thinks Polish builders offer more for the money: "When you employ Polish builders you always get more. We working hard. We always do our best. We put our heart to the job."
Jarek and Terry begin approaching potential clients. While British builder Terry wins the first job he pitches for, building an extension for the Ghatora family, Jarek has a harder time. Jarek believes that, for a Polish builder, a cheap quote is often the key to getting work and, after being turned down by many potential clients, Jarek finally offers the Smith family a big discount to win their business. He says he will complete the £16,000 job for £12,800 in only five weeks. Jarek's wife is not impressed. "They are a young married couple with not much money. They need our help," Jarek says. "We need help. We are a young couple too," she replies. Undeterred, Jarek heads to Poland to pick up "his boys".
Aiming to complete his job in eight to ten weeks for £16,800, Terry and his apprentices start work. But things soon grind to a halt as Terry waits for a decision from the council on some underground pipes. When the pipes turn out to house live electricity cables, he feels their cautious approach has been vindicated: "That's why we do it the way we do it. The proper way. Little, little and often. Take your time. Do it properly."
As Jarek's build gets underway, the Smiths notice a problem with the outline of her new extension - the foundations are 2ft short. "Oops," says Jarek. Once the foundations are re-measured and laid, work progresses quickly but the Smiths are reluctant to offer Jarek any more money to meet unexpected additional costs.
Jarek muses on how hard it is to make a living in the UK. "Seven years ago I been full of confidence. The money's just on the floor you just have to pick up the money. It's not that easy. With my seven years' experience in this country I know that you have to be so brave, so flexible, hardworker, really, really hardworker."
Meanwhile, Mr Ghatora discovers that dealing with the electricity cable will cost him an extra £2,000 and reluctantly hands over the extra money. But work stops again when Terry enters a dispute with the Water Board and more than three months into Terry's build there are still no walls. Terry starts work on another job. Mr Ghatora says his family warned him what might happen, telling him "If you use an English builder you're gonna get caught. Because the reputation they have is just tea-drinking, crack-showing layabouts"
So which team turns out to be faster, cheaper and better? And would either family be willing to employ a British or Polish builder again?
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